We weren't wrong, we were just, uh, premature

While admitting when specifically asked that there was no evidence of a connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, members of the Bush team consistently tried to link the two in the public mind, usually by the ruse of referring to Saddam, bin Laden, and 9/11 in the same breath. Something along the lines of "We saw on September 11 how we are threatened by the terrorism of Osama bin Laden and his associates. Now, as Saddam Hussein continues to defy the UN...."

However, such verbal trickery may be unnecessary in present-day Iraq.

Baghdad (Reuters, January 25) - The top U.S. military commander in Iraq said Sunday there was evidence ties might be growing between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein loyalists waging a bloody insurgency in the country.

"What you see is a lot of fingerprints in terms of the tactics and techniques and procedures that are being employed. We are working very hard to establish whether there are today positive links," Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said in an interview. ...

Such an alliance would be a new one. The secular nature of Saddam's Iraq ran counter to the radical Muslim views of groups like Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.

In other words, it's the position of the US military in Iraq that the invasion and occupation of Iraq is now causing the very alliance between Baathists and al-Qaeda that it was supposedly intended to disrupt.

Since George claims to be an avid Bible-reader, he should know this one:

"Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same." - Job 4:8